Preview Concert for Orchestra Wellington ticket holders

September 2019

Before Orchestra Wellington’s ‘Transfigured Night’ concert on 21 September, the NZSQ will give a special performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131. This is a chance to hear the original composition, before the orchestra strike up with much larger forces as part of their ‘EPIC’-themed season. After completing Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis in 1824, Beethoven dedicated his final years to one genre only: the string quartet. In this medium he reached momentous heights and String Quartet No. 14 is often considered the pinnacle of his oeuvre. Since its completion in 1826 this late work has entranced audiences and critics for its fine-drawn connections between the seven continuous movements. This is a work that’s worth hearing twice, showing Beethoven as a composer of intimate chamber music and grand symphonies.

The NZSQ’s and Orchestra Wellington’s performances will each bring remarkable differences to Beethoven’s score, which Orchestra Wellington’s Music Director Marc Taddei will discuss in the evening’s pre-concert talk, with members of the NZSQ.